Two boundary earthworks on the west of Rushall Down
Overview
Heritage Category: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number: 1009813
Date first listed: 08-Jan-1990
Map
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Location
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
District: Wiltshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish: Charlton
National Grid Reference: SU 09285 53426
Reasons for Designation
The most complete and extensive survival of chalk downland archaeological remains in central southern England occurs on Salisbury Plain, particularly in those areas lying within the Salisbury Plain Training Area. These remains represent one of the few extant archaeological "landscapes" in Britain and are considered to be of special significance because they differ in character from those in other areas with comparable levels of preservation. Individual sites on Salisbury Plain are seen as being additionally important because the evidence of their direct association with each other survives so well. Boundary earthworks which include linear earthworks, so called ranch boundaries, dykes and cross ridge dykes are particularly well preserved in the Salisbury Plain Training Area. They provide important evidence of prehistoric landholdings, land reorganisation and changing agricultural practices through time.
Details
Two lengths of bank and ditch boundary earthworks meeting at right angles. The
earthworks are part of an extensive system of boundary features, although
their precise relationship is unknown.
1 - A boundary feature running north-west/south-east for c.270m. The ditch is
c.8m wide and there is a counterscarp bank on the north-east. This may be part
of the "Long Ditch", sections of which remain extant to the north-west and
south-east.
2 - A ditch running south-west/north-east following countour around the steep
face of a combe. The ditch averages 6m wide and has a weak counterscarp bank.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number: 10034
Legacy System: RSM
Sources
Other
Trust for Wessex Archaeology, (1987)
Wiltshire Library & Museum Service, (1987)
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
End of official listing